Ninety Three: Obama Health Care

I don't pretend to know much about the macro economics of health care. I can't imagine there are more than a handful of people who do. After all, an industry which consumes hundreds of billions of dollars of our national economy by definition is complex beyond human comprehension.

What I do know is that OB and his band of Chicago political animals are making claims which they either know to be false, or have no intelligent reason to believe to be true. In other words, they are lying. What is OB's interest (and when I say "OB" I am referring to him, his administration, and Democrats in general)? The interest is expansion of government. These people don't give a hoot about health care. Why should they? They already have the best coverage and will continue to have it no matter what happens to the rest of us. These people simply want to expand government. It's their business. They want to increase their market share, the same way a utility wants to sell more electricity, or a flower shop wants to sell more flowers.

This is the way it always has been and will always be. The ONLY thing which could possibly slow down this perverse trend is term limits - and of course revolution.

Ninety Two: Small Government

Yesterday I received the receipt for my 2009 property tax payment from the Rural Municipality of Souris Valley No. 7, Saskatchewan, Canada. The tax payment is for land which my grandfather, "Original Tom" homesteaded in 1904. Not only was the receipt hand-signed by the Administrator, Jo Ann Larsen, but Jo Ann also included a 400 word "note" filling me in on her surgery, her new grandchild, and the centennial anniversary party for the RM last summer. Obviously, my family's ownership of the land predates the organization of the RM government. Many of the original settlers (O'Donnell, Sampson, Forrester, Ordahl, Bloor), still have descendants on the land.

This transaction with our local government is a stark and shocking illustration of how completely disconnected our modern governance has become from its original conception. The idea that government is supposed to "serve" the people has been turned upside down. Our governments now exist to be "served by" the electorate. Governments are now malevolent bodies which foster ill will and malice. They harm the people. They are arrogant and self-serving. Can this trend be reversed? I think not.

Ninety One: Chrisopher Dodd Is A Liar

It was my unfortunate luck to see Senator Dodd blathering on TV this morning about what I think and how I feel about my health care. He also expressed the debt of gratitude I owe to Harry Reid for forcing the largest expansion of government in 40 years down my throat. Dodd also told me that heretofore, only a "precious few" had access to health care (of course Dodd being one of those precious few). And finally, Dodd told me that now, he and Harry had made access to health care a "right."

If ever there was a poster child for term limits, it's Dodd.

Ninety: BO's ADD

Does Prez Obama suffer from a titanic case of attention deficit disorder? It certainly appears so. And it also is being fed by an overactive ego, which apparently makes him think he can solve any problem, or achieve any result by simply plopping himself at the epicenter of the issue (Chicago Olympics bid; Copenhagen environment conference; jobs summit; financial re-regulation; and of course, health care), and expecting all parties to submit to his superior intellect and moral suasion. Nice try. It worked to get elected, but it won't work to govern.

If politics is "the art of the possible," then BO and his band of merry liberals have sorely missed an opportunity to achieve something useful. With his party majorities in Congress, not to mention his support from the hugely Democratic federal bureaucracy, unions, and academia, he could have stuck to his campaign promise of "post-partisanship" and achieved something historic in any one of the big issues like health care or the economy. Instead, he is flailing around like an Asian carp.

Eighty Nine: Golf Without Woods

Back on April 2, 2007, I voiced my long-held belief that Tiger Woods has not been good for the game of golf. Not that he has been necessarily bad for the game, but the nauseating hero-worship by the media of this golfing great to the detriment of the other players and the game itself has been just that - nauseating.

Now we see that while heroic (and often completely devoid of any gentlemanly qualities) on the course, Mr. Woods is a serial adulterer, a woman abuser, a liar, a cheat, and as my 94 year old Aunt Helen refers to him, scum. My Aunt Helen by the way, has been a golf devotee for about 75 years. While she no longer plays, she still watches, knows the players, and enjoys the game.

Of course I wish no ill will to Mr. Woods or his family. But I will soooooo look forward to golf without him, or rather without media circus which follows him. Actually I rather like watching him play, at least when he's not acting immature.

Maybe the interesting dynamic to watch will be whether Woods handles his personal challenges better than, say, David Duval.